President Donald Trump announced plans to introduce a 'gold card' visa, offering a path to citizenship for $5 million, replacing the existing 35-year-old EB-5 visa for investors. Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump stated that the initiative aims to attract wealthy and successful individuals who will contribute significantly to the economy through spending, taxes, and job creation.
"We are going to be selling a gold card. We are going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million," Trump said. "It's going to give you green card privileges plus it's going to be a route to (American) citizenship, and wealthy people would be coming into our country by buying this card," he added.
“They’ll be wealthy and they’ll be successful, and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it’s going to be extremely successful,” Trump stated.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick revealed that the 'Trump Gold Card' would replace the EB-5 visas within two weeks. The EB-5 program, established by Congress in 1990, requires investors to spend approximately $1 million on a business that employs at least 10 people.
The new gold card, essentially a green card or permanent legal residency, seeks to increase the investment threshold and eliminate fraud, which has been a concern with the EB-5 program.
The Homeland Security Department reported that around 8,000 individuals obtained investor visas in the year ending September 30, 2022. The Congressional Research Service highlighted risks of fraud in the EB-5 program, including ensuring that investment funds are legally obtained.
Investor visas are common globally, with over 100 countries, including the US, UK, Spain, Greece, Malta, Australia, Canada, and Italy, offering similar 'golden visas' to affluent individuals.
Trump did not specify job creation requirements for the new visa. Although the EB-5 visa numbers are capped, Trump suggested that selling 10 million 'gold cards' could help reduce the national deficit. He described the cards as a sophisticated version of a green card, providing a citizenship pathway for wealthy individuals and talented people sponsored by companies. While Congress typically sets citizenship qualifications, Trump claimed that 'gold cards' would not require congressional approval.